The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the textile sector may be expanded to all garments, including those made of cotton, to enable the labour-intensive sector fully benefit from it, Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh has indicated.

“We are considering to review the PLI scheme,” Singh said at the India International Garment Fair on Tuesday. He added that the government was also considering inclusion of the garments sector in the scheme.

The government launched the PLI scheme for textiles sector in 2021 with an approved outlay of ₹10,683 crore to promote the production of man-made fibers (MMF) apparel, MMF fabrics and products of technical textiles in the country.

The industry has been demanding that garments made of all fibre, including cotton, be included in the scheme to give a boost to the sector. Singh’s statement indicated that the proposal to include all garments was being considered.

Roadmap

The garments and textile industry had also made a case for lowering of threshold investment limit for getting PLI benefits so that smaller units could also participate. The review may also take the demand into consideration.

Singh said that India was working on a textile roadmap to move ahead of not only Bangladesh but also China in the sector. He said his Ministry would soon hold meetings with big companies to understand their concerns.

The Minister stated that the size of the Indian apparel and textiles market has to be increased to $350 billion from present $165 billion. He said revamping textile parks, and promoting green textiles will be in focus.

“Global headwinds negatively affected Indian apparel exports. But despite these adverse scenarios, the Indian apparel export industry was able to hold its own and contain the damage to quite an extent,” pointed out AEPC Chairman Sudhir Sekhri.